As expected, everyone loses. The correct answer was "Word whose most emphatic syllable is the third to last", although I also would've accepted "First and fourth options". Let me explain:"Exdrúxula" is a term related to a classification of words, depending on which syllable is the most emphatic. In Portuguese, we have "palavras agudas", words whose most emphatic syllable is the second to last, "palavras graves", words whose most emphatic syllable is the last, and "palavras exdrúxulas", whose meaning I've already explained.As a rule (and I mean an actual rule; not one of those so-called rules that are full of exceptions), "palavras exdrúxulas" have an acute accent (´) in the third to last syllable. Hence why I would've accepted the penultimate option.

Next word: Último

Meaning in English:

Ultimate

Last (male)

Last (female)

Ultimatum

Second and third options

I'm running out of ideas for this game. If you'd like to see it go on, PM me your suggestions. So that everyone can participate, if you suggest a word, I'll do the opposite: give you the word in English and a bunch of Portuguese possibilities.

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My names are many, yet I am One.-Orion, son of Fire and Light, Sol Invictus.

Maybe we could have people chime in with other languages? I could do Polish, except that I don't know how to type some of the various letters I would need. I know we have quite a multilingual group here, anyway...

Maybe we could have people chime in with other languages? I could do Polish, except that I don't know how to type some of the various letters I would need. I know we have quite a multilingual group here, anyway...

Maybe we could have people chime in with other languages? I could do Polish, except that I don't know how to type some of the various letters I would need. I know we have quite a multilingual group here, anyway...

I'd be fine with that. Any takers?

The only ones I could do it in would be French, which would be too easy (lots of people have studied it, even if you haven't studied it, it's often easy to guess, and there's at least one person here whom I know is a native speaker), or Irish, which might be too hard.

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[On how kangaroos could have gotten back to Australia after the flood]: Don't kangaroos skip along the surface of the water? --Kenn

The only ones I could do it in would be French, which would be too easy (lots of people have studied it, even if you haven't studied it, it's often easy to guess, and there's at least one person here whom I know is a native speaker), or Irish, which might be too hard.

And, yes, nogods, I noticed the similarity in the words for window in other languages when I was trying to come up with alternate guesses. I'd never thought of that before, but it struck me that there might be a common root in there, since curtains and windows go together, as it were. It had also occurred to me that the first three letters (fir), might be related to vir, which seemed as though it might have something to do with glass as well, but I was probably thinking of vitreous, which is a bit of a stretch. Anyway, it's always fun to think about things like that.

I remember first getting fascinated with the relationships between words in other languages when I was about 8 or so, and someone had taught me the German words to "Silent Night"...and a couple of days later, I was walking around in my bathrobe, which is "szlafrok" in Polish, and it suddenly hit me that the first part, "szlaf", was pronounced just like the "schlaf" in the carol, which meant sleep, and "frok" was just like the English (and probably German) word for a dress. Anyway, that epiphany was way exciting to my 8 year old mind!

I am such a language nerd. I love learning about different languages and how they represent the same reality so differently. Living in other cultures and learning languages has influenced my worldview bigtime. Languages affect the way people think and how they see the world.

One culture has an idea or a concept that does not even exist in another culture, so there are no mutual words for it. One language has to borrow the word or phrase from another. Think about how many words we need in English to translate tete a tete, rendezvous, decolletage, folie a deux or menage a trois from French. The fact that French already has words for these concepts and English does not tells you something about the respective cultures.

Also, languages don't directly translate meaning, which is another factor in my atheism. For example, in Spanish there are a lot of reflexive verbs, where something does something to itself. To say the cat fell off a table, you say se cayo el gato de la mesa, which translates as "the cat dropped itself from the table." Rocks and other inanimate objects also "drop themselves". I don't know about you, but I see a different picture in my head from "it fell" to "it dropped itself".

Once the bible or other sacred text has been translated, the meaning has changed.[1] Over time, you get a telephone game effect, where people have no clue what the original meaning of a passage was. Yet, they think they can base their life decisions or country's laws on this stuff!

Muslims try to prevent this by only having the Quran be sacred in Arabic, but the meaning of words changes over time even within a language or culture. What does it mean to "dress modestly"? In Saudi Arabia it means head to toe loose burkha-type covers in black or white for men and women. In Senegal it means clothes that cover the entire body but that are tight and in bright colors.

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When all of Cinderella's finery changed back at midnight, why didn't the shoes disappear? What's up with that?

I'm going to guess "to doubt", since v's and b's tend to transmute into each other in language evolution, as do d's and t's, bringing the word to "dubitar". Which seems close enough to make that leap. I don't remember what the word is in Spanish.

I'm going to guess "to doubt", since v's and b's tend to transmute into each other in language evolution, as do d's and t's, bringing the word to "dubitar". Which seems close enough to make that leap. I don't remember what the word is in Spanish.

The word, IIRC, is "dudar" (literally: to doubt).

Next word: Copo

Meaning in English:

Cup (a "drinking vessel", as Wikipedia calls it)

Glass (same as "Cup")

Body

Suction cup

The first and second options

None of the above

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My names are many, yet I am One.-Orion, son of Fire and Light, Sol Invictus.

I like the game, but hate making mistakes! So I generally avoid answering unless I'm pretty sure I have it figured out. And even then I mess it up about half the time. It's always interesting to see what the right answer is, though.

If I had to guess, my first thought would be either a or b...it's closer to "dar", which, if I remember correctly is Spanish for "to give", but somehow the difference in the vowel makes it feel (if that makes sense) a bit more like "dolor" (pain) even though the word itself is less similar overall...

Which, of course, probably means it's actually one of the other choices, but I can't dredge up any closely matching words for hearing and listening out of my brain. So, it could just as easily be something totally other.

Urgh! I hate decisions. Can't I just leave it with letting you in on my thought process without actually choosing anything?

I was hoping the similarities between "dar" and "da", as well as the similarities between "da" and "dad" would throw you off. The actual word for "give (imperative, third person, singular)" is "dá" (note the accent) and the one for "give (imperative, third person, plural)" is "dêem".

Next word: Falcatrua

Meaning in English:

Falcon (male)

Falcon (female)

A ruse

A trickster

The first and second options

None of the above

Try guessing this one without cheating.

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My names are many, yet I am One.-Orion, son of Fire and Light, Sol Invictus.

Sorry. I shouldn't play. I used to speak Portuguese pretty well, but my skills have diminished over the years, and I have more Spanish interference than not. I've been trying to stay out of the game, but I jumped at the easy one.

Sorry. I shouldn't play. I used to speak Portuguese pretty well, but my skills have diminished over the years, and I have more Spanish interference than not. I've been trying to stay out of the game, but I jumped at the easy one.

Of course you should play. That's the whole point of the game. At the very least leave a message with your train of thought.Also, that message wasn't for you specifically. It was for anyone who might participate.

« Last Edit: August 18, 2013, 06:05:57 PM by One Above All »

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My names are many, yet I am One.-Orion, son of Fire and Light, Sol Invictus.